Word of the week - Knowing Jesus II

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules”.  Matthew 15:8-9

I believe that Knowing God through a personal relationship with Jesus is the single most important decision of our lives.  But what does this really mean and how do we “Know” God?  It begins with the Bible which is “God’s Word” a book of life from Him about Him, God’s autobiography written to mankind.  As we spend time seeking God through His word, communicating with Him through “Prayer” and learning about Him through others, The Church, we become much more familiar with His nature and begin to really Know Him more and more.  Similar to other personal relationships we have with people like our spouse, children, siblings, friends ant others, the more we spend time with them, especially through the trials and challenges of life, the more we know them and the very essence of their nature.  By doing life with them, we learn about their values, dreams, desires, goals, priorities, strengths, fears, weaknesses, nuances and much more.  The more we are willing to open up and share our true self them the more they  can get to Know us and we get to Know them.  In most cases, we get to Know people well when we desire to Know them and intentionally pursue a deeper relationship with them.Unfortunately there are billions of people around the World that don’t have any desire to Know God; therefore, they don’t Know Him.  In most cases this category of people are running from God because they don’t Know who He is and what He is really about.  They have a perverted and false perspective of who God is and the benefits of Knowing Him.  If you think about it, why would anyone not want to Know God if He is the Creator of the Universe?  He has more power than anyone on earth.  In comparison, it would be like saying you don’t want to Know the President of the United States.  If you understand the power of the President there would be no good reason not to want to Know him if he wanted to Know you.  The good, good news of the Gospel is that God our Father, the Creator of all things,  deeply desires to Know each and every person on earth and have a personal relationship with each of us.  “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness.  Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” 2 Peter 3:9.  He desires all to come to Him.  As believers we need to pray that these people would Know the truth and have a change of heart and have a desire to Know God and seek Him.Equally concerning are the billions of people around the World that have substituted man made religion for Knowing God through a personal relationship.  They have fallen prey to the lie that we can somehow gain salvation through our own works and self-righteousness.  The truth is that we are saved by grace and only by the righteousness of God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.   ^“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.”  Ephesians 2:8.  They may Know about Jesus by knowing facts about Him, attending church, performing religious acts and rituals and may even have committed bible versus to memory.  But they have never allowed God to penetrate their hearts to transform their lives.  Just because we are doing “Christian Things” does not mean that we Know God.  When we repent of our sin and surrender our lives to Him as our Lord and Savior, He comes alive in us through the Holy Spirit and we are transformed into a new creation in Christ.  In this process we have a new nature and desire to Know God and grow closer to Him by spending time with Him.  One of the most amazing things about God is the more we Know Him the more we love Him and desire to Know Him more because He is so good and faithful.This is the most important question we can ask ourselves when it comes to our faith and walk with God, do we Know God?  If the answer is yes then continue forward in your pursuit to Know Him more.  If the answer is no, I urge you to stop and watch the message below and make a heart decision to accept the truth of the bible and begin a sincere journey with Christ to seek Him daily to Know Him more and more so one day you will enter His presence and hear “Well done my good and faithful servant”.  It will be the best decision you ever make….-Duane